


Shaken

by finereluctance



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: Episode Related, Established Relationship, M/M, S01E06
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-13
Updated: 2014-10-13
Packaged: 2018-02-20 23:18:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2446736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/finereluctance/pseuds/finereluctance
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick is shaken after the events at the Hendler residence and Grissom knows Greg will steady him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shaken

***

The gun was pointed at him, the woman’s hands steady and level as she aimed for his chest. Nick trembled, his eyes watering even as he fought against the urge to cry. He was a grown-man, he’d been a cop for a few years, but there he was again, standing at the wrong end of a gun and tears in his eyes. 

“Mrs. Hendler, I’m a good listener,” he whispered. “You’ve got to give me the gun…” Nick wasn’t ready to die here. He’d joined the crime lab to get out of the line of duty as a cop in Texas. He’d left his home state because there had been so much talk, so many rumors and whispers about how he was less of a man, couldn’t pull the trigger when it was him versus a suspect in a dark alley and his partner dead. The crime lab was supposed to keep him away from going through it again. His hands shook so badly he squeezed his fists tight to keep his entire body from shaking with them, but still the tremors of fear ran through him.

“Wait, Mrs. Hendler.” Nick hadn’t noticed Grissom’s approach behind her, he was so focused on the gun, but he took a sharp breath when his supervisor appeared in the doorway. “Nick, don’t move.” Nick did as he was told though the trembling caused the tears to fall from the corners of his eyes. He was blankly aware that Grissom continued to speak, but he couldn’t hear the sound of his words over the steady pulse of blood in his ears. 

The next few minutes was a blur, officers entered to arrest her, Grissom asked him if he was okay, but Nick only followed through the motions. The only thing he saw was the gun pointed at him, and flashes of everything he could have lost. His friends, his family, the lab... his partner. 

Shudders still tore through him as Grissom led him out to the SUV and forced him into the front passenger seat. His supervisor made a call, but Nick was so lost he didn't care what Grissom was doing until they were driving away from the scene. They didn't go back to the lab, in fact they didn't go far at all, though it felt like eternity to Nick. 

Another car met them at the front of the housing development, a familiar silver Jetta. Pacing the sidewalk next to the car was his partner, all messy-haired and bright shirts, and it was a ray of sunshine through the darkness that still clouded Nick's mind. He nearly tumbled out of the car in his haste to get to him, legs as shaky as the rest of him, until he threw his arms around the younger man and buried his face against Greg's neck with a quiet sob.

"Get him home, Greg. You both have tomorrow night off." Nick vaguely heard the sound of Grissom's SUV leaving, but it didn’t quite register.

“Shh, I got you, Nicky. It’s okay now, she’s going to jail,” Greg murmured softly in his ear. Familiar, gentle hands ran through his hair and across his neck and shoulders, holding him close until the trembling began to subside and his tears dried on the collar of Greg’s shirt. “Let’s get you home… it’s been a long night.”

***

It had been a long night in the DNA lab, where even loud music and a pulsing bass weren’t enough to keep Greg’s spirits up. Then he’d gotten the call. He barely heard the trill of his ringtone over Radiohead, but he switched off the music as soon as he saw Grissom’s name on the screen. “What’s up, boss?” He answered casually, trying to keep his own frustrations out of his voice but not doing so well.

“We had a bit of a situation down at the Hendler residence… I need you to pack up and come get Nick, you’re both off the clock.” Greg was certain that if anyone saw his face just then that he turned as white as a sheet. He abandoned his lab in a rush, his tea and notes still spread all over the counter, but he had somewhere more important to be. Grissom hadn’t given him details beyond the address, which was probably the worst thing possible because the tech had no idea what to expect when he got out to the meeting point. Greg arrived first, after breaking half a dozen speed and traffic laws on the way, but he was too worked up to sit in the car and wait. Instead, he paced the sidewalk of the residential community in the middle of the night to work off his own worries.

No matter what he imagined, he didn’t expect Nick to stumble out of the SUV and into his arms to cling to him as he did. He’d never seen his partner so shaken. Angry, yes. Frustrated, frequently. He barely recognized the trembling man as his partner who was always so strong and secure.

“He’ll be alright.” Grissom spoke to Greg and he knew their supervisor took note of how Nick held onto the smaller lab tech. “Just a bit of a scare tonight.” From where Greg was standing, it seemed a lot more than just a scare. 

Greg ran his fingers through Nick’s short hair, fingers rubbing behind his partner’s ears soothingly. “What happened?” He questioned Grissom because he didn’t think Nick would be up to talk about it.

“We got the wrong suspect. The wife drew a gun on Nick, but no shots were fired.” The supervisor’s answers were short and to the point, emotionless as he did most things in life and at work. 

His words struck a cord in Greg, though. He knew Nick’s history. It was no wonder the older CSI was so shaken. Grissom had to have known too, he hired Nick and knew why he left Texas… that was when he realized why Grissom had called **him** to get Nick. Grissom did know about Texas, and he knew about them as a couple. It was as much care as Greg had ever seen Grissom give anything in the three years he’d worked in the Las Vegas crime lab. 

"Get him home, Greg. You both have tomorrow night off."

“Thanks,” Greg murmured, tied up in his own thoughts as he stroked Nick’s neck and shoulders to sooth the trembling. He could still feel Nick’s broken gasps and the tears that wet his shirt, but he just held his partner closer. “Shh. I got you, Nicky.” It took a long while, but eventually Nick calmed enough to loosen the death grip he’d had on Greg. “Let’s get you home.”

It was easy enough to get Nick into the car, but his hands reached for Greg the moment he took the driver’s seat. Once the car was in gear he moved his right hand to Nick’s thigh, giving him something to hold onto for the trip home. Nick entwined their fingers, holding onto Greg’s hand tightly. The older man was quiet, which was not uncommon, but there wasn’t even a comment when Greg flipped the radio to Nick’s favorite country station, the music turned low to fill the quiet car. Greg knew Nick was still shaken up, but he had calmed significantly. 

Nick didn’t say a word until they got back to the CSI’s apartment and Greg led him to his room and helped him undress for bed. “Greg,” he murmured as the younger man pulled Nick’s shirt over his head. The moment he was free of his shirt Nick wrapped his arms around Greg’s shoulders to hug him. 

Greg tucked himself against his lover and let his hands wander over the muscles of Nick’s back, dragging his nails gently along the skin. Nick shuddered in his arms, but it wasn’t the scared shudder he’d had earlier in the night. Greg could feel the difference, could feel how it was a good shudder, a good feeling from his lover who always liked just that tiny bit of pain with his pleasure.

“Stay?” Nick asked quietly, unwilling to let go of Greg’s smaller frame.

“Always,” Greg smiled and kissed his shoulder as he pulled him gently towards the bed. The simple question let the lab tech know exactly what Nick needed from him. He needed simple reassurances, the familiar touch, and physical reminders of life and love, and later, when they were both satiated and sweaty, he fell asleep with his head on Greg’s chest, needing the steady heartbeat to remind him that they were both okay.


End file.
